VIDBE-Q Volume 68 Issue 2
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pursue a college education, studying music. Though her family felt protective of
her due to her visual impairment, they were also proud that she was gaining
confidence and greater independence in her last years of high school.
As Celine's fingers followed the raised-line path heading east, she listened
to the sounds of traffic ahead. She centered herself, knowing she was on a
pedestrian path and would not be making a street crossing. At the same time,
Celine recognized that the campus was entirely new to her, and her senses were
confronted with a myriad of sounds and scents. Overhead, mature trees rustled and
crows raucously announced their presence. Urban pedestrians and college students
picked their way along the paths around her. Celine scanned the landmarks on the
map with her hands and referenced the map's braille and high contrast key. She
confirmed the map's symbols, reading the braille labels carefully. Using her vision,
Celine could just make out vast shadowy shapes of the buildings ahead of her, and
she tactually confirmed their locations on the map, noting the overpass that
connected the buildings above the pedestrian path. "I'm ready to start," she
announced, handing the map back to a researcher and positioning her cane. Along
the route, Celine asked to consult the map twice. The first time, she confirmed her
position on the route, noting the distinctive echoing sound of the concrete overpass
as she tapped her metal-tipped cane and read the map. "Okay, since I'm here, I
must have passed all the concrete benches and the first sets of bike racks," she
